Twitter’s General Counsel to Depart Company

Alex Macgillivray, the influential general counsel of Twitter, is leaving the company.

Twitter

Alex Macgillivray, the general counsel of Twitter who has been a key voice on government surveillance demands and other policy issues, said he is leaving the company.

“I continue to care deeply about Twitter, the folks who work at Twitter and our tremendous users, so I’ll remain close to all three,” Macgillivray said in a blog post.

He wrote that the general counsel post will pass to Vijaya Gadde, who has been managing Twitter’s corporate and international legal work.

A spokesman for Twitter declined to say why Macgillivray is leaving. During a six-month transition, he will continue working with Twitter, the company spokesman said. Macgillivray wrote that he will be an advisor for the legal, trust and safety, corporate development and public policy teams.

Macgillivray jumped from Google’s legal group to Twitter in 2009 and became a key executive at the company, current and former employees have said. The Toronto native is known by his Twitter username, “amac.”

People who work with the company say Macgillivray is most responsible for the hard line Twitter has taken on issues of free speech and in pushing back against government and law enforcement demands for information about the service’s users.

Macgillivray, and other Twitter executives, proudly refer to the company as the “free speech wing of the free speech party,” though that hard line has gotten tougher to toe as the company grows.

With Macgillivray’s departure and as the company creeps closer to an IPO, Twitter is reorganizing its ranks.

Colin Crowell, head of Twitter’s public policy initiatives and a key lieutenant to Macgillivray, now will report to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, the Twitter spokesman said.

The corporate development group responsible for acquisitions–led by former Morgan Stanley banker Cynthia Gaylor–had reported to Macgillivray but now will be the responsibility of Twitter CFO Mike Gupta.

(This post has been updated with more background on Macgillivray and how Twitter is reorganizing its legal team.)